So, “Right of Way.” What’s it about anyway?

Today being Wednesday, I thought I’d write a little about our script’s first three pages and what might come next. (Check ’em out by clicking the SCRIPT icon to the right, if you haven't already.) After this first week, I’ll always post new script pages on Wednesdays (on the SCRIPT page, natch), and I’ll post script notes here.

The opening pages set a tone. There’s a junkie in an abandoned tunnel and a movie star at a Westside party. I want to continue to explore the whole range of L.A. neighborhoods and demographics these two represent.

We’ve also got a main character, or at least he looks like one to me: Mayor Russell Napolitano, who bridges all the demos—rumpled but ramrod straight, charming but shady, a leader with a vision for a great American city, but with ethics that allow him to play fast and loose with the public trust.

Which brings us to that envelope. What’s in it? The obvious answer is money, but could it be something more interesting? And if money it is, then to what purpose? Straight-on graft is so Chicago. Napolitano’s got something more complex going on. I don’t know what it is, but I can feel it.

And what about the sexual tension between him and Celeste? Is it just a sly glance or something more? Remember—blood will be shed here somewhere. Maybe not in next week’s pages or next month’s; it’s too soon to tell. Maybe the vic won’t even be a main character. But if I were Celeste (or her husband Larry, for that matter), I’d sure watch my step. Just sayin’.

Then there’s that smell of methane in the tunnel. You’ve no doubt heard that our mass transportation plans were at one time derailed by underground gas pockets. (And if you haven’t, you can get a whiff of the local lore here.) The banner at that Brentwood manse shouts, “L.A. is on the move.” But is Napolitano the man to lead the way, or is he just some sociopath gasbag on the hustle?

We pause to await your contribution while the mayor takes the mike to address an adoring crowd. If we decide to lay in some exposition in his speech, let’s try to do it with style. (Remember that scene in “Chinatown,” where the farmer brings his herd of sheep to the city council meeting because there’s not enough water for grazing at home? Now, that’s how you make a story come to life!)

It’s time to keep building the story's rails—setting up characters, conflict, plot and subplots. We need 1-5 more pages by Sunday night—before then, if you don’t want to be writing through the Oscars.

Who’s on board?